1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing active carbon particles by carbonizing a raw material in steam atmosphere while feeding electricity to the raw material received in a rotary reactor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method of producing active carbon particles by dry-distilling a carbon based raw material, used active carbon particles or the like, and thereafter, feeding electricity to the raw material received in a rotary reactor so as to allow the raw material to be carbonized in the latter in a steam atmosphere is disclosed in an official gazette of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication NO. 4-97905.
According to the prior invention, the active carbon producing method is practiced such that a mixture gas atmosphere composed of a self-burnable gas (C) generated from the active carbon particles and a steam (H.sub.2 O) is heated to an elevated temperature ranging from 800.degree. C. to 1000.degree. C. to induce an endothermic reaction in the mixed gas atmosphere. This endothermic reaction is remarkably promoted with the mixture gas composed of carbon dioxide gas, hydrogen gas and oxygen gas after the temperature of the mixture gas atmosphere exceeds 800.degree. C., resulting in the temperature of the mixed gas atmosphere being abnormally raised up. Since the carbon dioxide gas in the mixture gas atmosphere required for inducing the endothermic reaction is obtained only from the self-burnable gas derived from the active carbon particles, when a quantity of the hydrogen gas obtained from the steam in the mixture gas atmosphere relative to the limited quantity of the carbon dioxide gas exceeds a predetermined one, there arises a malfunction that the temperature of the mixture gas atmosphere is abnormally elevated.